Journal
ISME JOURNAL
Volume 15, Issue 9, Pages 2665-2675Publisher
SPRINGERNATURE
DOI: 10.1038/s41396-021-00958-2
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Funding
- University of Vienna
- OeAD
- ESF
- Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania project WETSCAPES [ESF/14-BM-A55-0032/16]
- DFG [BE BE 61944/1-1]
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Myxobacteria were found to potentially play a key role in the soil microbial food web, impacting prokaryotic community composition. Eukaryotic micropredators, such as amoeba and nematodes, had generally lower abundance of 18S rRNA transcripts, especially in mineral soils.
Trophic interactions are crucial for carbon cycling in food webs. Traditionally, eukaryotic micropredators are considered the major micropredators of bacteria in soils, although bacteria like myxobacteria and Bdellovibrio are also known bacterivores. Until recently, it was impossible to assess the abundance of prokaryotes and eukaryotes in soil food webs simultaneously. Using metatranscriptomic three-domain community profiling we identified pro- and eukaryotic micropredators in 11 European mineral and organic soils from different climes. Myxobacteria comprised 1.5-9.7% of all obtained SSU rRNA transcripts and more than 60% of all identified potential bacterivores in most soils. The name-giving and well-characterized predatory bacteria affiliated with the Myxococcaceae were barely present, while Haliangiaceae and Polyangiaceae dominated. In predation assays, representatives of the latter showed prey spectra as broad as the Myxococcaceae. 18S rRNA transcripts from eukaryotic micropredators, like amoeba and nematodes, were generally less abundant than myxobacterial 16S rRNA transcripts, especially in mineral soils. Although SSU rRNA does not directly reflect organismic abundance, our findings indicate that myxobacteria could be keystone taxa in the soil microbial food web, with potential impact on prokaryotic community composition. Further, they suggest an overlooked, yet ecologically relevant food web module, independent of eukaryotic micropredators and subject to separate environmental and evolutionary pressures.
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